Osmanović and Zvizdić with Sitting Volleyball Players: Moving Towards Increasing Funds for Sports

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Denis Zvizdić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, and Minister of Civil Affairs Adil Osmanović today in Sarajevo hosted the BiH national sitting volleyball team, which won a silver medal at the recent World Championship in the Netherlands.

Minister Osmanović congratulated the BiH volleyball players on the great results they have achieved and said it is a pity that BiH does not have a state ministry of sports that would have its own clearly defined budget and through which all national teams and clubs would receive funds at the beginning of each budget year.

- However, this composition of the Council of Ministers is trying to provide as large a financial framework for sports in BiH as possible. When we came in 2015, when it comes to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the budget for sports was zero, and today it is 1.4 million convertible marks, and we will strive not only to maintain it but to increase it. Much needs to be done to change the framework Law on Sports to regulate things - emphasized Minister Osmanović.

Mirza Hrustemović, the coach of the BiH national sitting volleyball team, who has been in that position from the very beginning and has had the pleasure of celebrating all the successes.

- We know that the higher we climb towards the top, the more complicated the situation becomes. However, all complicated problems can be solved if there is a will. I would give one example related to us. A long time ago, at the Federal Ministry of Sports, we commented on whose law we had copied. It turned out that we were copying from the Croatian law. In the first reading, the Croatian law did what it did, but then it turned out that it was not done properly when it comes to Paralympic sports, and they appealed in Strasbourg and gained equal rights. We know about these problems, but we must somehow solve them. If nothing else, we are one of the ambassadors and a sport that has been permanently present for many years with huge representation and excellent results - said Hrustemović.

In the conversation with the BiH national sitting volleyball players, the significance of their success was particularly emphasized.

The BiH national sitting volleyball team is the most trophy-winning BiH sports selection. The series of successes began at the European Championship in 1997, where they won a bronze medal. Since then, the BiH volleyball players have won a medal at every major competition. Their collection includes nine gold and two bronze medals from European championships, three gold, two silver, and one bronze from world championships, and two gold and three silver from the Paralympic Games.